The present invention relates to optical scanners and more specifically to an optical scanner having enhanced item side coverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,588 to Detwiler et al. discloses a dual aperture optical scanner which includes horizontal and vertical apertures. The scanning light beams from a single laser diode pass through these apertures to provide coverage for up to four sides of a scanned item: the side facing the vertical aperture (front), the side facing the horizontal aperture (bottom), and the left and right sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,588 to Detwiler et al. disclosed a dual aperture optical scanner which includes horizontal and vertical apertures. The scanning light beams from a single laser diode pass through these apertures to provide coverage for the bottom and sides of a scanned item.
While this scanner requires much less item orientation than a single aperture scanner, it is not capable of scanning the top and rear sides of scanning items. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an optical scanner which is capable of scanning as many as five sides of a typical merchandise item.
While this scanner requires much less item orientation than a single aperture scanner, it is not capable of scanning the top of items. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an optical scanner which is capable of scanning the top, bottom and sides of a typical merchandise item using an increased number of scan lines.